Like food, fertilizers are produced and used to enhance plants growth. You put some on your garden and the plants start flourishing. The soil looks darker and the flowers shine like a mirror under the sun. This is the effect that good quality fertilizers can have.
However, with the wrong application of fertilizers, you will see quite the direct opposite of the supposed benefits of manuring. Plants shed their leaves, and the growth of the stem becomes stunted. In extreme cases, the plant dies. Fertilizing mistakes can be dangerous.
Know how, why and where can you gone wrong? Alternatively, if you have hired a gardener to apply the fertilizer, know where can he go wrong –
Using
the Wrong Fertilizer Products
Firstly, the quality of fertilizers is quite important. If you are using a natural plant fertilizer, it is a perfect blending choice, using natural ingredients to enhance the plants’ growth. However, if you choose non-organic kind of fertilizer, you must ensure it meets the soil and plant needs.
Each plant or soil type has its requirement. Therefore, it is essential that a gardener understands what this is all about before choosing a product.
Adding
Too Much Fertilizers
Another mistake is using the current status of the plant to determine the amount of fertilizer to add to the soil and blindly using an exorbitant quantity in the long run. This will have the same results as over-feeding your plants. It will expose the root of your plants to diseases and insects which in turn may lead to its own demise.
During rainfall, excess fertilizers can be washed away into bodies of water, thereby causing harm to aquatic lives. This is also a sign of wastage; fertilizers that should be enhancing plant growth have gone into another area where it’s doing nothing but harm.
To limit this error, a gardener should examine the result of the soil test. If you can’t perform an analysis, check the plants for yellowing leaves, or too many leaves without a sign of fruit development. Do not repeat the mistake next time. Choose a quality product like natural plant fertilizer. Moreover, it’s best to always apply fertilizers before planting.
Using
Too Little
This is another mistake gardeners make. Because they do not want to use excess, they become too careful, applying sparse quantity of fertilizer. There’s no serious damage to this action, but you should not expect your plants and garden to reach their utmost potential.
It is like malnutrition, you don’t give your plants enough food for them to thrive. This can result in lack of specific nutrient which can, in turn, lead to a deficiency in the plants.
If too little fertilizer is used before planting, it means you will depend more on liquid fertilizers in the future. This is not a good decision either because liquid fertilizers tend to burn plants’ leaves. So from the start, it is wise to call an experienced gardener who will use quality products and in the right quantity.
